4G6 - SOLAN ACEiE. 



y 



Tiiger L., with stalked leaves and bracts, a native of the Mediterranean 

 region, is soinetimes used in the south of Europe as medicinal henbane. 



iT 



for smoking. 



>/ 



f ^ 



FOLIA TABACI. 



Herba Nicotianc^; Tobacco ; F. Tabac; G. TabaWdtter, 



Botanical Origin — Nicotiana Tabacum L. — The common Tobacco 

 plant is a native of the New World, though not now known in a wild 

 state. Its cultivation is carried on in most temperate and sub-tropical 

 countries. 



History— It is stated by C. Ph. von Martins' that the practice of 

 smoking tobacco has been widely diffused from time immemorial among 

 the natives of South America, as well as among the inhabitants of the 

 valley of the Mississippi as far north as the plant can be cultivated. 



The Spaniards became acquainted with tobacco when they landed 

 in Cuba in 1492, and on their return introduced it into Europe for the 

 sake of its medicinal properties. The custom of inhaling the smoke of 

 the herb w^as learnt from the Indians, and by the end of the 16th 

 century had become generally known throughout Spain and Portugal, 

 whence it passed into the rest of Europe, and into Turkey, Egypt, aiia 

 India, notwithstanding that it was opposed by the severest enactment^ 

 both of Christian and Mahommedan governments. It is commonly 

 believed that the practice of smoking tobacco Avas much promoted in 

 England, as well as in the north of Europe generally, by the example 

 of Sir Walter Raleigh and his companions. 



Tobacco was introduced into Ch 



Manila, during the 16th or 17th ccnturj, ^^. ^.►^ -■ ^ •■"- i ,.• 



the emperors both of th^ Minrr nnrl T.^incr rivnastios. It is now culti 



ina, probably by way of Japan or 

 ;ury, but its use was prohibited l.) 



vated in most of the provinces, and is universally employed. 



The first tolerably exact description of the tobacco plant is i 

 Cfiven by Gonzalo Fernandez de Oviedo y Valdes, governor ot 

 Domingo, in his Ilistoria general de las Jndias,^ printed at Seville 

 1535. In this work, the plant is said to be smoked througn 



branched tube of the shape of the letter Y, which the natives 

 Tahaco. 



that 



St. 



in 



a 



call 



It was not until the middle of the IGth century that 8'^°^^ P 

 tobacco was seen in Europe,— first at Lisbon, whence the J^rei 

 ambassador, Jean Nicot, sent seeds to France in 15G0 as those oi 

 valuable medicinal plant, which was even then diffused througiw 



I 1 J ^ ^ 



Portuiral.* 



71 



few years previously, and valued for its beauty and 



^ BeUmrjezur Ethnoiirajihleund Sprachen- ■•Nicot, Thr6s(yrde la langne Fran<;oiJ , 



l^'unue Americas, zumni /irn«:J!^.io ; /icctv 



Taris, 1606. 429. . ^^ms ««< 



o A, . ,, » Semmda parte del hhro de /«« | , g^f 



^f.Hist. of China, 1871. 219. Tabaco SeviHa, loib 3. 



-LJiU* V* C toi« 



